Lesher says, “Addiction is a brain disease expressed in the form of compulsive behavior.” As with most chronic diseases, addiction should also be treated with multiple recurring treatments since the brain chemistry of addicts often causes them to relapse into drug use. Lesher makes his case that addiction is a brain disease by stating that addicts cannot quit taking drugs on their own because they require medical treatment like most ill patients. The authors final opinion on addiction is that initial drug use is present due to the voluntary behavior of the addict and while it does not absolve the user of their responsibility as it was their fault, once they have developed an addiction, their brain has chemically changed so much that they can not will themselves to quit and must be treated as though they have a medical disease. NO: Alva Noe states that addiction is not a disease of the brain. First, he points that not all addictions are chemical substances and there are many activities that can be addictive to people.
'Describe and evaluate two theories of addictive behaviour, in initiation, maintenance, and relapse' Biological models of addictive behaviour focus on the neurotransmitter substances in the brain, and on genetic differences between people with addictions and people without addictions. Biological models of addictive behaviour, it seen that a person would be most susceptible to addiction during the initiation phase, because they have a predisposed biological vulnerability. Such biological predispositions are less likely to have an effect during the maintenance of the addiction. However if a person managed to give up their addiction, a biological predisposition would make them more susceptible to relapse. The neurotransmitter that is most
The mescaline or Peyote trip can last up to 12 hours. The person also needs greater tolerance because you need more to get the same effect and chemical induced mental illness. The dangerous of the side effects can cause a chemically induced model of mental illness. The drug is not considered an addictive drug like cocaine, heroine or alcohol because it does not produce the same compulsive drug-seeking behavior. However, mescaline produces greater tolerance in some users who take the drug repeatedly.
Benzodiazepine drugs are commonly used to treat stress, anxiety and high blood pressure. They work by blocking receptors that are usually activated by adrenaline and noradrenalin, meaning that the body is less able to produce extreme and unhealthy sympathetic nervous system responses. Antipsychotic drugs, which are often used to treat schizophrenia, work by reducing the amounts of dopamine at synapses in certain areas of the brain. Drug treatments have been found to be effective in treating many illnesses, and in many
Outline and evaluate biological treatments of depression. 8 + 16 marks In the 1960s MAOIs were introduced after accidentally discovering that noradrenaline (a neurotransmitter) was a contributing factor in depression. MAOIs work by blocking the action of monoamine oxidase, an enzyme which flushes noradrenaline out of the synapse. This means that there is more noradrenaline available in the synapse which will, hopefully, result in relieving the symptoms of depression. MAOIs were effective for some people, but they came with severe side effects and in some cases even death when taken with certain food and drink such as marmite and red wine due to a sudden and massive increase in blood pressure.
In healthy patients, these drugs induce effects similar to Parkinson’s disease. Amphetamines seem to increase the level of dopamine in the brain and research has shown that giving amphetamines to sufferes of SCH often worsens their symptoms. A problem with studies carried out into levels of dopamine and SCH is that they are carried out post-mortems. Because of this we cant say if the increase in dopamine is a cause or effect of
Some drugs work by increasing the levels of neurotransmitter as low levels of serotonin are thought to cause depression so SSRI drugs such as Prozac are used to block the re-uptake pump in the synapse. This reduces the rate of re-absorption therefore increasing serotonin levels by allowing more serotonin to attach to receptors. Other drugs such as anti-psychotics block the post-synaptic receptor sites so that not as much dopamine can cross the synapse. This relieves the symptoms of schizophrenia by decreasing excessive dopamine levels. Many drug treatments are cost effective, easy to use and there is much evidence to show that drugs can be effective in a range of psychological disorders, such as up to 70 per cent of depressed people respond to drug therapy.
This leads to the oxidation of neurons when dopamine accidentally enters the serotonin axons through reuptake transporters (Sferios, 2002). This occurs because serotonin is heavily depleted from the synapse while dopamine levels are still high (Sferios, 2002). After dopamine enters the presynaptic neuron cells, it is broken down by Monoamine Oxidase (MAO) into hydrogen peroxide (Sferios, 2002). Both dopamine and hydrogen peroxide are toxic to the cell and cause this oxidation effect (Sferios, 2002). Usually these neurons die and regrowth is unlikely.
From a biological aspect relapse is said to occur because the person physical craves for the cigarettes, so they relapse. A person addicted to cigarettes is also more likely to relapse as they might try to avoid
From the research I have gathered, it seems that the e-cigarette is a safe and effective tool in smoking cessation. I have tried the nicotine patches, nicotine gum and the a few of the drugs that are supposed to assist with making a person not be dependent on nicotine and these did not work for me. The next step is to try electronic cigarettes and see where that takes me on my road to quitting traditional cigarettes. Electronic cigarettes may save me from heart disease or some form of cancer which is attributed to traditional smoking and tobacco products, that means that I will be around to see my children progress thought life and be here for my grandchildren as